Blue Jackets prospect banned 5 games after DWI charge
COLUMBUS — Blue Jackets prospect Jordan Dumais is dealing with a five-game suspension related to his recent arrest for impaired driving on top of returning from an abdominal surgery that cut his season short in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
According to Halifax, Nova Scotia, police information officer John MacLeod, Dumais was stopped by police at 2:20 a.m., March 1 and displayed signs of intoxication. The 19-year old forward was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired and operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content above 0.08%.
Dumais will face charges in Halifax Provincial Court at a date yet to be released. Police are not releasing further details. The Halifax Mooseheads announced Dumais’ suspension Friday morning. It began Thursday night during the team’s victory over Charlottetown.
Dumais will miss the remainder of the regular season and first game of the QMJHL playoffs, according to the Mooseheads’ statement.
“Since this was an off-ice infraction, the matter was handled internally while the team remained in constant communication with the league,” the team said. “The QMJHL and the Mooseheads demand exemplary behavior from all its players, both on and off the ice . ... The team and Dumais will have no further comment.”
Dumais, who will turn 20 in April, was selected by the Blue Jackets in the third round (No. 96 overall) of the 2022 NHL draft. Coming off a 109-point season during his draft year (2021-22), Dumais has further thrived in Halifax.
He piled up 140 points (54 goals, 86 assists) last year before racking up 16-31-47 in 21 games prior to undergoing abdominal surgery in January. Before the surgery, Dumais participated for Canada at the world junior championships. He had been cleared to return by the Mooseheads before his suspension.
Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and interim general manager John Davidson did not immediately reply to The Dispatch’s request for comment. Dumais and fellow Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk — drafted 12th overall in 2022 — were returned to their respective
Canadian junior teams in the fall after both impressed at the 2023 NHL Traverse City Prospects tournament plus training camp in Columbus.
Neither was eligible to play for the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League per an age agreement between the NHL and Canadian Hockey Leagues that limits under20 CHL players to eligibility only for their junior team or NHL team. Dumais and Mateychuk had already mastered the junior level, but the Jackets’ inability to keep either in the NHL sent them back.
Dumais said his goal for this season was to lead the Mooseheads to a QMJHL championship plus a title in the Memorial Cup tournament that features champions of the CHL’s three leagues plus the team from its host city. That goal remains a possibility, but it’s unclear what further ramifications Dumais will face regarding his DUI arrest and charges.